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Cancelled storylines and characters
This is a list of initially planned stories and characters that were meant to appear in Coronation Street, but never occurred. Characters Characters that were scrapped, or in some cases were later changed to an established character from the history of the show. Tony Ogden The mentioned but not seen son of Hilda Ogden and Stan Ogden was originally intended to appear in 1964, with an actor even cast in the part. But due to a strike going on, story rewrites omitted Tony from the show, with only his older siblings Irma and Trevor being introduced. It is unclear if Sylvia Ogden was also considered to appear. By the 1970s, it appeared the characters were retconned out of existence. Such an example of being written out of existence was when in October 1976, Hilda mentioned how her and Stan had just 2 children, Trevor and Irma. Mrs Bates Barbara Knox (then Mullaney) was brought back for another guest stint in 1972 as Mrs Bates. However when producers realised she had played the character of Rita Littlewood seven years previously, they decided to make both the characters the same, and overtime it was clearly established that she was the same Rita from 1964 (including a reference to her friendship with Dennis Tanner). Trevor Battersby Shortly after the Battersby clan arrived in July 1997, plans were made to introduce Les Battersby's wayward son Trevor Battersby, fresh out of prison, to join the rest of the dysfunctional clan. However the character never appeared, so presumably was scrapped. It may be that Trevor later was renamed and the storyline rejigged so that Les never knew he had a secret son, who did turn up in 1998, Greg Kelly. Mr. Gamble In 2008, plans were made for ruthless businessman Tony Gordon to heckle a pensioner named Mr. Gamble, who refused to move out of his home that Tony tried to evict him from. But the casting director June West made the suggestion to bring back Kenneth Cope in the role of Jed Stone, a part he hadn't played since 1966. Cancelled Storylines and scrapped ideas Stories that were unmade, or ideas that never made it to production. The demolition of Coronation Street (1961) Coronation Street was originally intended to run short-term, with only around 13 episodes planned. The "final" episode would have seen the street demolished. But due to the popularity of the series, it was kept on the air and would keep going for 60+ more years. Sheila Birtles suicide (1963) Sheila Birtles was originally going to go through with her suicide attempt in 1963. Days before the broadcast, news of the suicide was leaked by the press, and after pressure from viewer complaints Granada edited the episode so Sheila didn't die. Actress Eileen Mayers would continue to appear on a recurring basis as the character in 1966, 1969 and 1974. The axing of Ken and Valerie Barlow and Albert Tatlock (1964) Producer Tim Aspinall infamously axed several characters following his takeover in 1964, which included Harry Hewitt and Concepta Hewitt, Frank Barlow, and most controversial of all, Martha Longhurst, who was killed off. Aspinall intended to also axe Ken and Valerie Barlow as well as Valerie's uncle Albert Tatlock, but these characters were spared thanks to higher intervention. Full time return for Frank Barlow (1967, 1971) As mentioned above, Frank Barlow was axed in 1964 along with several other characters. After being written out, Frank Pemberton's health began to decline and he suffered a stroke the following year. He did return for two guest appearances in 1967 and 1971 respectively, which was to test out if he was able to come back full-time. But in those two instances it was clear he was not in the best of health, and he never returned to the show as a full time cast member. Pemberton passed away in March 1971, six weeks following his final appearance as Frank Barlow, and the character himself died off-screen at some point thereafter. Barlows leaving for Jamaica (1971) After Anne Reid decided to leave the role of Valerie Barlow in 1970, producers originally pondered an idea to have Valerie leave alongside husband Ken and children Peter and Susan for a new life in Jamaica. It was later decided to kill off Valerie instead in order to spare the Ken character, and Valerie was killed by electrocution in February 1971. The idea was a massive advantage for both actors, as Anne Reid would go onto having a big acting career following her departure, and Bill Roache was allowed to remain as Ken, a role he would continue playing for the next 50+ years. Bet Lynch taking over the Rovers again (2002) The much hyped return of Bet Lynch took place in 2002, seven years after Julie Goodyear had originally left the role. Plans were made for her to take over as manageress of the Rovers Return. But the change in filming schedule caused pressure for Julie Goodyear, so pulled out of the part after only filming ten episodes, with Bet only appearing for two weeks before disappearing without a proper on-screen exit. Maureen Lipman was brought in briefly as relief manager Lillian Spencer in July 2002 to make up for Goodyear's abrupt departure. Goodyear would later return for a properly planned guest stint in November 2003, taking place in Blackpool. Eddie Yeats guest return (1984) Originally Eddie Yeats was intended to return for Stan Ogden's funeral in late 1984 after the real life passing of Bernard Youens, but Geoffrey Hughes was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts. He would eventually return for two episodes in 1987 as Hughes wasn't to act one last time alongside Jean Alexander before she departed in the role of Hilda Ogden. Martha Longhurst's twin sister as a character (1988) In the late 1980s it was suggested that Lynne Carol return to Coronation Street as Martha Longhurst's twin sister. Lynne discussed with the then current producer Bill Podmore about Martha's twin sister being a new character in the show, but sadly the idea went no further. Fred Elliot's role in the 40th Anniversary Special (2000) Fred Elliott was going to appear in a major role in the 40th Anniversary Special, but before the broadcast actor John Savident was attacked with a knife, meaning he had to step down from appearing in the live episode. Fred's lines of dialogue was instead given to Duggie Ferguson. Maya Sharma's trial (2005) Reports claim that Maya Sharma was originally going to go on trial in 2005 for attempting to murder Dev Alahan and Sunita Alahan. However, due to Dev's actor being suspended from the show, the trial wasn't seen on-screen, or even given a proper mention in the show. Original Tram Crash idea (2005) Originally a tram was meant to crash into the street in 2005, with Claire Peacock being reported as being the driver after getting a job there. But this story never went ahead as Metrolink bosses refused to cooperate as they felt it would give their business a bad name. Funnily enough, the story ended up happening (with some changes in circumstances) for the 50th anniversary in 2010, and Metrolink were willing to help out the producers with the production of the storyline despite their hesitation five years before. Jed Stone's murder (2008) The writers intended for Jed Stone and Tony Gordon's feud to end with Tony strangling Jed to death in the factory. But Kenneth Cope was against the idea of his character being killed, so the writers changed it to Jed surviving and being sent away to Wigan by Tony to stay out of the way. He made a further three appearances from January to February 2009, confirming his survival. Elaine Perkins's return (2009) Originally producers wanted Joanna Lumley to reprise her role as Ken's former girlfriend Elaine Perkins in 2009, in a storyline in which Ken had an affair with her and contemplated leaving Coronation Street for good for a new life with her. But when Lumley was unavailable for filming due to scheduling conflicts, the writers created a new character Martha Fraser, played by Stephanie Beacham. Wiki Dankowska's return (2009) Wanda Opalinska took maternity leave in 2009, so her character Wiki Dankowska was intended to be temporarily written out, and exited in February 2009 (in the same episode Carla Connor left, as Alison King also went on maternity leave at the time). However Wiki was axed from the series, and although it was originally reported she would make a further appearance before leaving for good, this never happened. Hilda Ogden guest return (2010) Papers reported in 2010 that producers offered Jean Alexander a large sum of money to make a guest return for the 50th anniversary, but Alexander's agent commented that she wasn't interested. There had been numerous attempts before for producers to lure her back to the programme, but Alexander had always turned down these offers. The only exception she had returning as Hilda was for a 1990 mini episode as part of the ITV Telethon, and then for a direct to video special The Women of Coronation Street released in 1997. Tina McIntyre's original exit (2013) After Michelle Keegan quit the role of Tina McIntyre in April 2013, it was originally intended for the door to be left open for a future return. But producers decided to extend her contract, as part of a storyline in which Tina had an affair with older man Peter Barlow, which then led to Tina being murdered by Rob Donovan in a huge storyline. Sylvia Goodman's involvement in the Hayley Cropper cancer story (2013-2014) Although Stephanie Cole intended all along to leave the series, her character Sylvia Goodman was meant to have a larger role in Hayley Cropper's cancer storyline. But after Cole suffered a real life loss, the character abruptly left the series early and was absent for the storyline, and never returned at any point in the future. Sylvia's off-screen death in January 2019 ruled out the possibility of a future comeback. Falsely reported stories These are stories that were falsely reported by the press and officially confirmed to be fabricated and never intended to be used in the show. Please note that some of the situations are also a bit ambiguous, and its unclear if some were intended to be used on the show (see Hilda Ogden death section). Richard Hillman's return from the dead (2006) During a storyline in which the Platt family were supposedly receiving cards from the late serial killer Richard Hillman, some news outlets claimed that Brian Capron was returning to the role of Richard, in which it would be revealed he faked his death after driving into the canal. But this was proven as false, and the culprit was revealed to be one of Richard's surviving victims, his step-son David Platt. Bet Lynch's return (2010) An article in 2010 claimed that Phil Collinson planned to bring Bet Lynch back for the 50th anniversary special. But this never happened, and Collinson never wanted to bring back old faces for the special. Rita Sullivan's death (2010) The papers claimed that Rita would be one of the victims of the tram crash, and the fourth victim referenced in the "Four Funerals and a Wedding" tagline for the storyline's promotion. The fourth victim was in fact an unseen and unknown Taxi Driver whose car is seen heading towards the viaduct just before it explodes and derails the tram. Although sources claim this was changed to spare Rita, it has never been confirmed that she was intended to die. Hilda Ogden's off-screen death (2016) Following the real life passing of Jean Alexander in 2016, some papers claimed that Hilda was going to be killed off-screen, with the news being broken by Ken Barlow. But nothing ever happened in the show, or did the producers reveal anything about this intention. The only tribute paid to Alexander and Hilda was a documentary drama about the character and the actress, with Hilda being spared and left in the past glory days of the show. Unmade ideas proposed by cast members This includes proposed ideas from current and former cast members regarding characters in the show, but never happened. Curly Watts return (2007-) Following the axing of Curly Watts in 2003, his actor Kevin Kennedy had repeatedly stated that he was interested in returning, and would quite frequently voice his view. He did return for a DVD special Knight's Tale in 2010, but has yet to actually be invited back to the actual show. Ramsay Clegg's extended stay (2009) Andrew Sachs had wished for his contract to be extended beyond the initial three months he was signed on for, but the producers went ahead and killed off his character Ramsay Clegg at the conclusion of his storyline.https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/tv/Andrew+Sachs-54941.html Julie Carp and Brian Packham marriage (2011) Katy Cavanagh, who played Julie Carp, had stated that she wanted her character to marry love interest Brian Packham. This never happened during the two characters being together. Bet Lynch return (2012) Following the passing of Betty Driver who played Betty Williams in 2011, Julie Goodyear voiced her interest in making a one-off special return for Betty's funeral in 2012. However the producers didn't follow up on Goodyear's idea, and instead opted to only bring back Bill Kenwright as Betty's son Gordon Clegg as part of her death storyline. Category:Cancelled storylines and characters